You are here

SNC-Lavalin Report Exposes Justin Trudeau’s Corruption (Video)

The Duran’s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris discuss Canadian PM Trudeau’s tough re-election bid, which has been hit with a scathing rebuke, delivered by an ethics watchdog report.

With less than 10 weeks before the October vote independent ethics commissioner Mario Dion said Trudeau improperly pressured his former attorney general to spare engineering firm SNC-Lavalin Group from a corruption trial. The scandal erupted in February and helped push Conservative candidate, Andrew Scheer, to the top in polls for several months. With no new developments or headlines, Trudeau’s Liberal Party was recovering in the polls.

The 63-page report undermines Trudeau’s narrative, which is that he is a young and dynamic progressive on a mission to “do things differently” and more transparently in Canada.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada got some bad news at a very bad time.

The big picture: Trudeau was already in danger of losing October’s general election — polls show his Liberals in a dead heat with the Conservatives. Yesterday, the biggest scandal of his tenure burst back into the spotlight.

Flashback: The scandal began in February with a Globe and Mail report that Trudeau’s aides pressured Canada’s former attorney general to cut a deal with SNC-Lavalin. The engineering giant faced corruption charges over past dealings with the Gadhafi regime in Libya.

The minister in question, Jody Wilson-Raybould, had been demoted and later resigned. More resignations followed the news. The ensuing uproar was disastrous for Trudeau’s reputation, but slowly faded to the background.

Trudeau insists that he was merely “standing up for Canadians jobs.” It’s true that many were at stake; if convicted, SNC-Lavalin would have been banned from government contracts for 10 years.

But that argument didn’t convince voters back in February, when the Liberals “lost about 10–12 points almost overnight,” says Darrell Bricker of Ipsos Public Affairs.

Why it matters: Bricker says the SNC-Lavalin affair is now the dominant issue in a campaign that will ultimately be a referendum on Trudeau.

“The No. 1 asset that the Liberals have going for them is Justin Trudeau. He is their brand. It’s not a great place to be starting an election campaign from.”

The flipside: Trudeau’s main opponent, former parliamentary speaker Andrew Scheer, is hoping to capitalize. He called Trudeau’s actions “unforgivable.”

Scheer cuts a low profile. While his proposals so far have been relatively moderate, Bricker says, “there’s a lack of awareness about who he is or what he stands for.”

“The narrative the Liberals are pushing hard is that he becomes ‘Trump North,’ or more accurately Doug Ford at the federal level.” Ford is the populist, right-wing, and deeply controversial premier of Ontario.

What to watch: While Scheer’s political identity is still taking shape, Trudeau’s has been called into question.

“If there’s a word that describes the last 4 years and Justin Trudeau’s performance, I think generally that would be ‘disappointment,’” Bricker says.

The big question, Bricker continues, is whether the scandal is already “factored in” for voters. If so, Trudeau’s skills as a campaigner put him in a strong position to win. If not, “he’s in really big trouble.”

The bottom line: Bricker says the rock star image — magazine covers, viral videos — that Trudeau projects globally was embraced by Canadians 4 years ago. Now, many view him as out of touch or unserious.

“The picture is the same. He’s always done the same thing. What’s changed is how people look at him now.”